Serial shoplifter who poses as rich woman in new £3,000 hit

A thief targeting west London stores has struck again after police banned warning posters to protect her human rights.

She poses as a wealthy woman from Dubai before distracting shop assistants and taking thousands of pounds worth of designer jewellery and clothes.

In the latest incident she took stock worth £3,000 from a boutique in Richmond. She demanded to try on designer clothes worth around £15,000 at the Fiorisimo Bridal & Couture shop before going into a changing room.

In a repeat of earlier cases, she then said she had to go and get her husband in the car outside to pay for the goods before disappearing.

It was only then that the owner and designer Fiori Muro, 53, noticed that an expensive women's suit, a top and two Italian necklaces made of pearls, crystal and precious metals were missing. Ms Muro said: "It is devastating for a business like mine to lose this kind of money. But when I contacted the police they asked whether I had tried to stop her. She could have attacked me."

Her security camera was switched off at the time but police showed her earlier images of the woman to confirm it was the same thief. It follows a spate of thefts by the woman at shops in Kensington during the past few years.

Ms Muro said that posters of the woman could have saved her from being targeted. She added: "This woman is very good at what she does. She is a professional thief.

"It makes me very angry because if we had a picture of her on the wall we would have known her." Jewellery designer Isabel Kurtenbach, 38, an associate of Ms Muro's, fell victim to the woman when £2,000 of white gold and silver rings, necklaces and earrings were stolen from her store in Kensington Church Walk last October.

It was the latest in a string of thefts by the woman in jewellery and clothes shops in the area.

Her CCTV system clearly captured the woman distracting an assistant as she stuffed the jewellery into her coat.

But police prevented Ms Kurtenbach from distributing the thief 's picture to other businesses and at industry exhibitions to be used on warning posters. An officer told her it would be an infringement of the woman's human rights.

Ms Kurtenbach said: "This woman is going from area to area stealing from us and the police won't let us warn everyone. I'm furious. They talk about her human rights. But what about us decent people trying to run a business? It seems we have no rights at all."

The woman has also taken £1,000 worth of cashmere jumpers and £3,000 worth of jewellery from nearby stores.

Police have appealed for information about the latest theft, which happened at around 4.30pm on 9 February.

A Scotland Yard spokesman confirmed that the incident was being linked to earlier cases. He added that officers had shown images of the woman to some business owners in Kensington to warn them.

She is described as being of Middle Eastern appearance and aged in her late thirties. She was wearing a beige coat, suit, trousers and shoes with a red and cream scarf.